What’s your Financial Wellness Stage?
Training. Early Career. Mid-Career. Late-Career. Just as a physician’s career follows different stages, so too does a physician’s financial wellness. Understand yours will help you identify the best strategies to align your life with your values.
Stage 1: Overwhelm
You didn’t go into medicine for the money, but financial realities – student debt, childcare costs, or an unsustainable workload – are keeping you up at night. You are doing all you can, but there are too many financial priorities and not enough time and money to cover them all. You feel helpless, exhausted, and lost on how to move forward.
Photo credit: Anthony Tran on Unsplash
Objective:
Take back control by creating financial stability and a sustainable path forward.
Key Financial Planning Priorities:
- Clarifying and prioritizing multiple conflicting financial goals
- Stabilizing your cash flow to create breathing room and peace of mind
- Managing student loans in the setting of rapidly changing policies
- Protecting you and your family against catastrophic and unpredictable financial risks
Stage 2: Stability
You no longer lose sleep over money. More money is coming in every month than is being spent, and work is going well. However, you rely on your steady paycheck, and an unexpected shock – a recession, a colleague leaving or family illness – could threaten that stability.
Photo credit: Leonhard Niederwimmer on Unsplash
Objective:
Build the financial resilience you need to weather life’s surprises.
Key Financial Planning Priorities:
- Building short-term financial reserves to protect your autonomy
- Addressing key financial vulnerabilities such as debt and recurring fixed expenses
- Maximizing your existing income streams and building new ones
- Proactive tax planning that adapts to your changing financial situation
- Investing in long-term financial goals such as college savings and financial freedom
Stage 3: Agency
Your debt is no longer a threat, and your investments are growing. You are not financially independent yet, but you could easily handle a 50% loss in income without stress. It is only a matter of time until work becomes financially optional, and it is time to do more of what you love and less of what you don’t.
Photo credit: Julian Hanslmaier on Unsplash
Objective:
Align your finances with the career and life you truly want.
Key Financial Planning Priorities:
- Intentionally craft a career and lifestyle that fills you with joy and purpose
- Use financial modeling to ensure your values-driven career is viable and sustainable
- Refine your tax and estate planning to fit your evolving goals
- Begin shaping the legacy you want to leave behind with the use of financial tools
Stage 4: Legacy
Regardless of whether you are still earning a paycheck, purpose now drives everything you do. You are financially free, and your focus is now on mentees, patients, colleagues, communities or a cause bigger than yourself. Your priority is to maximize the impact of your work during your lifetime and beyond.
Photo credit: Shane Rounce on Unsplash
Objective:
Use your time, energy, and financial resources to create lasting impact.
Key Financial Planning Priorities:
- Creating a sustainable and manageable strategy to cover your financial needs
- Achieving your legacy goals in a tax-optimized manner using financial tools such as trusts
- Identifying future stewards of your financial resources who will ensure they are utilized according to your values.
- Succession planning for any businesses or practices
No matter what your Financial Wellness Stage is, DocEmpowered can help. Get started here.